Source: IFAW.orgBy Maha OdaSince Kuwait's joining of CITES in 2001, authorities have been making every effort to combat wildlife trafficking. In the last few years, a number of seizures and confiscations took place of CITES specimens in Kuwait such as cheetahs, Syrian brown bear, African grey parrots, green iguanas, baboons, pythons, crocodiles, and red-eared slider tortoises. Recently, IFAW office in UAE joined Kuwaiti authorities to organize a four-day training workshop on prevention of wildlife trafficking for officials concerned with wildlife trade. The training was conducted in collaboration with the Environment Public Authority (EPA), Kuwaiti General Administration of Customs, and Saudi Wildlife Authority (SWA). The training, which took place in Kuwait on the 25-28 November 2013, brought together 35 participants from Kuwaiti CITES management and scientific authorities, customs, police, and agriculture quarantine sectors. Eng. Sameera Alkandari, Director of Planning Assessment of Environmental Impact at EPA, said: there is a need to build national capacities in the field of monitoring wildlife trade in accordance with the CITES regulations which entered into force in Kuwait since 2001. Kuwait is known as a major center of trade and commerce due its strategic location in the Middle East region. In the 9th century, Kuwait became an important trading point, and this drew the attention of traffickers to use Kuwait as a route to smuggle wildlife products and animals.The workshop training would enhance the abilities of officials that will allow them to identify and stop illegal wildlife trade and protect animals from commercial exploitation. More....

Source: Edmontonsun.comBy Kate Schwass-BueckertSnakes and exotic pets dominated headlines in 2013, particularly in August after two young brothers died when an African rock python escaped its enclosure and suffocated them as they slept. Bry Loyst, curator of the Indian River Reptile Zoo near Peterborough, Ont., said at the time the snake must have been confused when it encountered four-year-old Noah Barthe and his brother Connor, 6. The two boys had been at a petting zoo earlier in the day, and may have still smelled like the animals, which is likely why the snake decided to constrict the two boys while they slept. "Potentially dangerous animals of any kind — whether it be tigers, lions, bears, cobras, rattlesnakes, large pythons — shouldn't be kept in a private residence," Loyst said. "This was an accident waiting to happen." Since then, authorities have been removing illegal or mistreated snakes, alligators and other exotic animals from homes across the country, and the federal government, provincial leaders and municipalities are all looking at new regulations to protect animals and keep residents safe. Ontario has asked for at least 36 separate studies looking into the issue, while in December, the New Brunswick government passed a motion by the Opposition Liberals calling for a complete review of the province's Fish and Wildlife Act, which oversees exotic animals. "Other jurisdictions are looking at New Brunswick for leadership on this file," Liberal MLA Donald Arseneault said in a statement about the motion he proposed. "This file has no politics, it is just the right thing to do." --- --- --TIMELINEMore....

Source: Newswatch.nationalgeographic.comBy Ken Ramirez, Chuck Knapp, Tim Binder, Jim RobinettSince the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was signed by President Nixon on Dec. 28, 1973, the Act has helped recover more than 30 species, prevented the extinction of 99 percent of the species it protects and currently protects more than 2,140 species. Conservation and learning at accredited zoos and aquariums, in partnership with local and federal agencies, have been key players in wildlife recovery efforts, including animals on the ground such as the black-footed ferret to those in the sea including the green sea turtles and those in the air like the California condors. Forty years later, the numbers are an incredible reminder of the power of a single act. While our efforts have saved some species, we have lost others in the wild. Today, a few species that are thought to be extinct in the wild can only be seen in aquariums and zoos – a reminder of the frailty and majesty of the living world and our impact on it. At Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, we are home for 14 animals on ESA’s threatened or endangered list, 33 animals on the IUCN Red List and five threatened in Illinois. As the anniversary approaches, four leaders from Shedd reflect on 40 years of the ESA and what the next 40 years will hold.Species protection with extinction prevention Accredited zoos and aquariums have always been conservation-minded, but the way we approach conservation has expanded. We now use a multi-dimensional approach focused on individual animals in our care, field research on wild populations and their natural habitats, and public education. We as a zoo and aquarium community have forged stronger and more collaborative recovery efforts to create a substantial impact as a united front. Many of us care for animals protected under the ESA, and we play a key role in advancing the science of wildlife recovery that is critical to avoid further species extinction. The most important part of our work is the emphasis to keep species off the threatened or endangered list. A long-sighted view about protecting animals and habitats that are currently thriving is essential to successful conservation. I hope one day we are so successful in our efforts that we no longer need to add new animals to the ESA list each year. More....

Source: Statesman.comBy Alex DropkinEvery morning, Sophia eats a handful of grapes and perks up. She stretches her legs and, on good days, takes a lap or two around the artificial forest in her enclosure.Sophia is a two-toed sloth, and the grapes — met with a wet, black nose and long tongue — amount to dessert. Her staples are sweet potatoes, vegetables and monkey chow.The two-toed sloth is endemic to Central and South America. Sophia has lived at Zoo Keeper Exotic Pets in North Austin for 12 years, since being rescued from an owner who had lost interest in her. Sophia has become both a public attraction and an educational tool of sorts, serving as a reminder of the consequences of Texas’ lax — some say absent — regulation of the exotic pet trade.Texas is one of 21 states with no restrictions on private ownership of exotic animals, according to Born Free USA, a national animal advocacy group. The Texas Department of State Health Services oversees statutes on the definition and handling of dangerous animals, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department manages nonnative species in relation to their impact on native plants and animals, but the onus of regulation is left to cities and counties.“That just shows that in Texas, it’s considered not important enough for it to even be handled by the state,” said Lynn Cuny, founder and president of Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation in Kendalia, “and that’s a real tragedy.”Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation receives a dozen or more calls a year to rescue primates, parrots, nonnative reptiles and larger animals from overwhelmed owners. Texas is home to more exotic animals than any other state, according to the Humane Society.“People love the whole idea of having (an animal) in their midst who is novel, who is very unique and who is going to make them look like they’re special,” Cuny said. “It’s a very kind of sick relationship.”Sophia is a star inside the Zoo Keeper store, at the corner of Burnet Road and U.S. 183. It sells exotic birds, snakes, turtles, insects, mammals and other unusual critters. Owner Daniel Keeper said he gets at least one customer asking to buy the sloth every day. But Sophia isn’t for sale. More....

Source: YourHoustonnews.comBy Kelly GoochCatherine the rhesus macaque monkey was not in the best shape when she came to the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch. The 18-year-old was more than 40 pounds. Her previous owner allowed her to eat a poor diet and a lot of human food, which led to obesity, said Ben Callison, director of the sanctuary. But through some love and attention, he said she was able to lose weight. Now, Catherine is among the many animals that enjoy the sanctuary’s tranquil surroundings. Animals there include horses, bison, chimpanzees, ostriches, pigs, sheep, monkeys and iguanas. Noelle Almrud, director of animal care at Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch, said most of the animals there have had terrible lives, but the sanctuary is able to offer respect and quiet. Callison said the sanctuary’s mission is not to be an entertainment venue but rather a facility for education. “We want to make sure these animals can tell their story,” he told the Tyler Morning Telegraph (http://bit.ly/1bBaivT). The Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch was founded in 1979 and started with burros from the Grand Canyon that were going to be exterminated, Callison said. Horses, primates, exotic animals and farm animals followed. Nim Chimpsky, a famous chimpanzee who knew sign language, even lived there for years, according to the sanctuary website. Today, the sanctuary, which is an affiliate of the Humane Society of the United States, has 1,310 acres with more than 1,000 animals. Callison said hundreds of equine are on the property, and once the animals are at the sanctuary, they are there for life. “He wanted to create a place where animals could come and live out their life and never have to worry about anything again,” Callison said of Amory. More....

Source: SiouxCityjournal.comBy Molly MontagJack, a Shetland pony, trotted into Sioux City Animal Adoption & Rescue Center last month under sad circumstances. The pony's owner had died. He needed a new home. The sturdy little critter with the lush forelock and long, flowing tail may have seemed out of place in the dog run, but Jack was only the latest in a never-ending stream of nontraditional pets to arrive at the center on Hawkeye Drive. Officials say that's why animal control officers receive special training on exotic animals: They need to know how to handle whatever walks, hops, slithers or hoofs its way through the doors. Over the years, they've handled mountain lions, lizards, snakes, horses, bears, pot-bellied pigs, a goat and a tiger. "You never know what you're going to get, or if it is of a tame nature or a wild nature," said Cindy Rarrat, whose Hannah Inc. agency provides animal control services for the city. Earlier this year, officers removed a baby American alligator and a snake from a home in Sioux City's Greenville neighborhood. Animal control officers learned of the alligator, which is not legal in Sioux City, when owners posted photos of the 10-inch-long reptile swimming with children in a bathtub. Though it was shorter than a grade-school ruler when animal control officers found it, mature American alligators can reach 10 feet in length. Officers get training in exotic-animal handling from the National Animal Control Association. More experienced officers also mentor their younger peers. Though the training isn't required for the state's animal-control officers, Rarrat believes it's important education. "They need to know how to handle a multitude of animals," she said.Part of proper training is to understand the special health needs of exotic animals. Lizards, snakes and turtles have different nutritional and habitat needs than a puppy or kitten. Knowing that makes it easier to care for animals at the shelter and to spot signs of poor health or neglect, said Animal Control Officer Kenna Anderson. Often, Anderson and other animal control officers must care for malnourished or abandoned exotic pets. For instance, one local resident found a terminally ill ball python in the backyard this year. Green iguanas are commonly discarded as they near maturity. More....

Source: Insightcrime.orgBy Natalie SouthwickExperts have revealed the extent of illegal wildlife trafficking in Colombia, highlighting an underreported but lucrative income source for criminal organizations, only exceeded by drugs, arms and human trafficking.About 160 illegally trafficked animals are seized daily in Colombia, reported El Espectador, totaling more than 58,000 per year. The animals are most commonly recovered in the departments of Sucre, Valle del Cauca, Cordoba, Santander and Bolivar, with most species originating from the Amazon, the southern border, the Pacific coast or the eastern plains, reported RCN Radio.Claudia Brieva, an animal rehabilitation expert at Colombia's National University, said many people believe they are "saving" the animals or want them as pets. Some of the most commonly trafficked animals are turtles, caimans, iguanas, boa constrictors and parrots. InSight Crime AnalysisAccording to Interpol and the United Nations Environmental Programme, wildlife trafficking is worth an estimated $15 to 20 billion annually, making it the world's fourth largest illegal trade, after drugs, human trafficking and the arms trade. In 2012 alone, Colombian authorities rescued more than 46,000 illegally trafficked animals. It is far from the only source for the trade: over the last two years a shipment leaving Paraguay contained more than 3,500 animals, while thousands of animals have also been rescued from Bolivia, and Brazil last year launched its own anti-animal trafficking operations. Despite the trade's enormous earning potential, relatively little is known about organizations behind global wildlife trafficking, due partly to the fact that it does not generate the same high levels of violence as the drug trade and arms or human trafficking. According to the UN report, the same routes used to move drugs and weapons are often used to smuggle animals. Yet, to some extent, animal trafficking requires a greater deal of sophistication than that of drugs or weapons because of the care required to keep animals alive throughout the journey. This suggests a high level of organization and expertise is involved in the trade. The market for trafficked wildlife is also not totally understood. Exotic pets may be status symbols or novelty items for some people, but black market demand for products like reptile skins and turtle eggs connects these networks to a larger global consumer market.

Source: Colombiareports.coBy Andrew WightAnimal trafficking is now the fourth-largest illegal industry in Colombia, after drugs, guns and human trafficking, reported RCN Radio on Tuesday. The industry, based primarily on the trade of live monkeys, turtles and reptiles, is now worth $17 million each year, according to the Rescue and Rehabilitation of Wild Animals Unit (URRAS), a Colombian NGO. Last year alone, Colombian authorities rescued a reported 46,000 illegally trafficked animals. URRAS director Claudia Brevia explains that the industry is diverse. Parrots, macaws and monkeys are the most vulnerable animals in the live trade. Deer, tapir and peccaries, meanwhile, are poached for their meat, while alligators and caimans hides are valuable trade commodities, and iguana and turtle populations are pillaged for their eggs. “The main problem of wildlife trafficking in the country is that there is [domestic\ demand. On many occasions, the people buying the animal believe they are rescuing or helping those animals.” “Meanwhile the animal traffickers make money, the habitat disappears and so do the species.” Brevia said trafficking is a problem across Colombia, from the sub-tropical pacific coast, to the Andean mountains, to the eastern plains and the Amazon River Basin. Links to Drugs Worldwide illegal animal sales bring in some $20 billion a year, according to Interpol estimates, making it the third largest illicit trade in the world after drug and weapons. According to crime analysis site Insight Crime, the same routes used by drug smugglers transporting narcotics to the U.S. and Europe are also frequented by Colombia’s animal traffickers. Drug traffickers supplement their profits by taxing animal smugglers in exchange for using the same smuggling routes, and may even use the animals to help hide narcotics shipments. More....

Source: Gulfnews.comEditorialUAE has always been an active campaigner against the export and import of banned flora and fauna.Wild animals do not, under any circumstances, make good pets. It is impossible to provide them the same environment as their natural habitats, thus putting the onus on the owners to take into consideration factors like habitation, temperature, light, food and water. Instead of adapting to their locale, wild animals are a threat to the communities in which they are kept captive. This is not just from a security point of view (where owners are not professionally trained to ensure their welfare), but also from a health aspect. The threat of passing on rare diseases to humans always exists. Of late, there have been quite a few startling reports highlighting illegal animal trade with a view towards keeping them as pets at home. Keeping exotic pets, like primates, lion cubs and iguanas has become common. Statistics illustrate that the UAE legally imported 10,000 royal snakes and issued four times the permits issued in other Gulf Cooperation Council countries to import big cats like tigers, cheetahs, lions and leopards between 2007 and 2010. These illegal and dangerous transactions must be curbed without hesitation. The UAE is an active campaigner against the export and import of banned flora and fauna. It is a valued member of CITES (Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species). There is a federal law that states the country’s position in this respect. There are also tough punitive measures in place to control the actions of those who flout this law. The Ministry of Environment and Water must ensure that it plays an active role in halting such kind of illegal activities across the country. It must be emphasised, however, that awareness and education about this problem is vital. The problem does not lie with the animals as much as it does with human beings.

Source: Ottawacitizen.comBy Robert SibleyOn an August day three years ago, a dozen or so law enforcement officers — Environment Canada agents, RCMP, Border Security services, Fish and Wildlife staff among them — waited patiently while a small boat motored across the St. Lawrence River from the Akwesasne Reservation on the United States side of the border to land on the Cornwall side.They waited as the man in the boat gave three crates to another man who had been waiting for him. They waited as the second man loaded the crates into his truck. And that’s when waiting came to an end.The results of that long wait came to a conclusion in a Cornwall court late last week when a judge sentenced a Cobden man, Dennis Day, to a 90-day jail sentence and slapped him with the $50,000 fine. Day, in his 40s, had pleaded guilty in July to two counts of illegally importing reptiles into Canada. A few months earlier, in March, he’d been convicted under the Customs Act of smuggling, keeping, acquiring and disposing of illegally imported goods. (The man who operated the boat was charged and convicted by American authorities.)Tuesday’s sentencing was the culmination of a lengthy investigation into a growing problem — the smuggling of reptiles, birds, animals, and plants, many of them rare and endangered, both from and to Canada — that has law enforcement agencies scrambling to keep up with increasingly sophisticated smugglers who cater to those who think they need to own an exotic species. And some are prepared to pay a steep price to satisfy their fetish for the exotic.“There’s the illegal drug trade, illegal immigration, illegal weapons trade; wildlife is up there,” says Martin Thabault, operations manager for wildlife enforcement in Ontario who’s been involved in the Day case. “There’s a lot of money to be made. We’re talking about plants, lumber. Or it could be rhino horn, exotic leathers, exotic pets. It’s pretty widespread.Thabault and his colleagues hope the sentence meted out to Day sends a message of deterrence.“We’ve had similar files in the past (but) this was probably one of the more important cases in recent history,” he says.Part of the problem they face — at least this as been the case in the past — is how seriously prosecutors and judges take the crime in terms of imposing stiff fines and jail terms. More....

Source: EC.gc.caPress ReleaseDennis Day of Cobden, Ontario, was sentenced on November 5 in the Ontario Court of Justice after pleading guilty on July 23, 2013 to two counts of violating federal laws regulating the import of reptiles. Mr. Day was sentenced to a 90 day jail term to be served on weekends, and ordered to pay $50,000 to the Environmental Damages Fund. The court also imposed a three year probation in which Mr. Day is prohibited from possessing any listed species of wildlife except in accordance with the provisions of the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and interprovincial Trade Act (WAPPRIITA) and the regulations thereunder.On August 4, 2010, a joint operation by Environment Canada, the Canada Border Services Agency, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the United States Customs and Border Protection found Mr. Day to be in possession of three containers of reptiles that were smuggled into Canada near Cornwall, Ontario by a vessel originating from the United States. Inspection of the containers revealed a number of reptiles that are prohibited in Canada for health and safety reasons and others that are illegal to import into Canada without a permit.Officers seized 205 animals including 20 Chinese striped turtles or goldenthreads, 20 African side neck turtles, 20 South American red-footed tortoises, 1 Herman's tortoise, 1 Serrated hinge back tortoise, 8 African spurred tortoises, 25 Timor monitors, 20 Green iguanas, 51 Jackson's chameleons and 39 Helmeted chameleons. The estimated retail value of these animals is approximately $50,000.Mr. Day was convicted under WAPPRIITA for importing animals without a permit and making false or misleading statements to an officer.Mr. Day was also charged by the Canada Border Services Agency and convicted on March 14, 2013, of smuggling, keeping, acquiring, and disposing of goods illegally imported under the Customs Act. Mr. Day received an additional 90 day jail sentence to be served on weekends, and the reptiles were ordered to be forfeited to the Crown.As a result of the evidence obtained during the Day investigation, another accused, Mr. Mark Ostroff, was convicted in the Ontario Court of Justice in Cornwall, Ontario on December 14, 2012, after pleading guilty to one count of unlawfully importing animals in violation of the WAPPRIITA. Mr. Ostroff was fined $40,000 and sentenced to three years probation. More....

Source: Seashepherd.orgMid-October, I found myself panting up and down the steep cobblestone streets of colonial Quito. The 10-hour plane ride and the 9000+ feet elevation of Ecuador’s capital were however not the only thing robbing me of my breath. Quito’s beautiful old town represents one of the largest, least-altered and best-preserved historic centers in the Americas and was in 1978 the first city to be declared a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO. But I was not there as a tourist, I had travelled to Quito to pick up Manotas. A name, I was told, that means ‘big hands’, but you won’t find that translation in any dictionary. ‘Big paws’ would be more appropriate as Manotas is a 7-year-old yellow Lab. He was born in Colombia on June 25, 2006. In 2008 Sea Shepherd acquired six police dogs in Colombia and Manotas was one of them. WildAid along with Conservation International selected another four dogs. After extensive training by the elite Ecuadorian police unit Grupo de Intervención y Rescate (GIR) on the mainland, Manotas and the nine other dogs were transferred to the Galapagos Islands in January 2009 where, after additional training by the environmental police, Unidad de Protección del Medio Ambiente (UPMA), they became part of the canine squad combating the smuggling of shark fins and sea cucumbers and wildlife trafficking in the Galapagos. The Galapagos Islands, officially known as the Archipiélago de Colón, are a group of volcanic islands straddling the equator over 900 km west of continental Ecuador. Its unique wildlife inspired Charles Darwin’s ideas on evolution, natural selection and adaptation. The islands have been dubbed the most sacred ecosystem on the planet. Since 2000, Sea Shepherd has maintained a strong, positive presence in the Galapagos Islands.The Galapagos is our line in the sand. If humanity cannot protect such a unique and diverse ecosystem, we will not be able to protect any ecosystem. More....

Nestled in the Pasco County side of Spring Hill lies a serene sanctuary where tigers, cougars and leopards can live out the rest of their days in peace and proper care. Many of the animal residents of the Wildlife Survival Sanctuary in Spring Hill came from other facilities that fell on financial hard times. Others were rescued from breeders and private owners from the exotic pet trade. Many people who desire exotic animals, such as big cats, are misguided into thinking that they can make good pets. Some are not aware of the complex dietary needs or the adequate housing and environment, mental stimulation and enrichment needed to care for these animals from the wild. Therefore, many of these animals from the exotic pet trade live out their lives in sub-standard, unsanitary conditions. And often times these animals are euthanized when their owners no longer can care for them and cannot find a home for them. Enter Spring Hill resident Jim Moore. "I started working with exotics about 16 years ago because I saw how exploited they were, even by the people who were supposed to be helping them. So I felt compelled to do more. I've always been a sucker for the underdog," said Moore. In 2000, Moore founded the Spring Hill sanctuary to rescue and provide a safe, caring environment for big cats and other animals from the exotic pet trade. Moore's vision also includes educating the public about the plight of these animals."Our outreach to the public is two-fold, to raise support for the sanctuary and awareness to their plight," Moore said. More....

If you live near the banks of the Tempisque River in Guanacaste, you may want to keep an eye on your livestock, as well as your dogs and cats. An anaconda slithered away from its unnatural farm habitat, where it was kept as an exotic pet by an owner described by neighbors as “a powerful gringo” in Costa Rica. The 12-meter long anaconda is not native to Costa Rica, and it has residents from rural towns along the large Tempisque River in deep fear. According to a news report in tabloid newspaper Diario Extra, neighbors from the towns of La Guinea to Paso Tempisque have reported sighting the animal feasting on small caymans (Caiman sclerops), and there are rumors of missing cows -although they have been unsubstantiated since one of those cows has already turned up. La Guinea is part of the Nicoya Archeological Region, and in the past it has been the site of important digs by anthropologists and archeologists. The fact that an anaconda is running loose in this community is a sign of a growing problem in Costa Rica: The exotic pet trade.The Hunt is On The Ministry of the Environment (Spanish acronym: MINAE) has organized a hunt for the loose anaconda. Public officials from the local conservation area are also investigating reports of yet another exotic pet owner in the area who may be keeping an anaconda in his or her property. With regard to the escaped anaconda, Diario Extra has reported that this large reptile was kept in a cage by an owner who is an expat from the United States. A farmhand tasked with feeding the snake, which was brought from Brazil, got spooked while carrying out his duties; the ophidian apparently could not resist the call of the Tempisque River.A good portion of the area where the anaconda might be is protected by government conservation officials who are concerned that it might be feasting on deer and jaguars. More....

Knowing how many exotic animals are kept in Canada is as difficult as knowing how many illegal immigrants have crossed into the country, experts say. Several exotic species are banned here and authorities do not do comprehensive or routine tracking, which makes tallying how many African rock pythons or komodo dragons are being stored in suburban basements an impossible task.

“There’s no way to appraise how many are actually in the country in homes or non-accredited zoos. Nobody would ever be able to produce a reliable answer for that,” said Kyle O’Grady, assistant curator of the Indian River Reptile Zoo, who is in Campbellton, N.B. to help relocate the animals seized from Reptile Ocean.But by studying U.S. data, experts say it’s safe to assume the populations of exotic pets is growing in Canada. U.S. trade in wildlife and wildlife products increased by 62 per cent from 1992 to 2002, according to a report written by Rob Laidlaw, the director of Zoocheck Canada. Though his evidence is anecdotal, he says there has been an increase in the import of exotic pets in Canada in the last 15 years, the most popular species being green anole lizards, ball pythons and green iguanas.The most recent data available on reptile ownership in Canada comes from a report prepared by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, though Mr. Laidlaw says those numbers are likely much lower than the true figures (which include banned species). In 2001-02, 54,738 wild-caught reptiles were imported to Canada. The most popular were green iguanas (nearly 16,000 of those were brought in), followed by ball pythons (7,846 of those). The vast majority of these wild-caught animals were imported through Quebec from the wilds of Indonesia, El Salvador and Ghana – countries with landscapes and climates dramatically different from the ones found in Canada, Mr. O’Grady notes. More....

Animal-welfare and public-safety advocates said Tuesday a python attack that killed two boys in New Brunswick highlights the need for lawmakers to address the mishmash of municipal and provincial regulations governing exotic-pet ownership.A report commissioned last year by the Public Health Agency of Canada found that there were “significant gaps” in the ability of government to identify and respond to risks posed by exotic animals and that there was “no mechanism to prioritize” a regulatory response, according to a summary of its findings.Only when tragedies strike do these gaps ever get any attention, report co-author Patricia Farnese, a professor of agriculture and wildlife law at the University of Saskatchewan, said Tuesday.“It is hit and miss in terms of how pro-active jurisdictions are in terms of who can own exotic pets,” she said.“We need to decide if we want people to own things that have a capacity to escape and kill. We need to have this discussion.”RCMP Sgt. Alain Tremblay told reporters at a news conference Tuesday that a large African rock python had escaped from a glass cage in an apartment above the Reptile Ocean store in Campbellton, N.B., and made its way through a ventilation system into the room where brothers Noah Barthe, 4, and Connor Barthe, 6, were sleeping. More....

The practice of keeping wild animals as pets has become a menace in the UAE, according to the May issue of 999 English, the official monthly magazine of the Ministry of Interior. The magazine's cover story details wild animal sightings in the UAE, how they are acquired, the threat to the public, the opinion of wildlife experts on the matter, its legality, and also interviews with two private zoo owners, one of whom rescues wild animals that are abandoned by their owners once they have outlived their utility as status symbols. The report highlights that these wild animals are bought solely for showing off and most owners have no idea how to care for them. Veterinarian and volunteer Dr Marissa Akram, quoted in the report, said: “Most of the exotic pets here are declawed, with their sharp teeth filed down and are found malnourished. Medical records are usually non-existent and those handling such animals fail to realise they are exposing themselves and the society to various illnesses.” Another expert pointed that though there were legal ways to bring an animal into the UAE, owners of exotic pets often took pride in bypassing the law. Dr Reza Khan, a specialist in wildlife and zoo management at Dubai Municipality’s Public Parks and Horticulture Department, said, “People keep dangerous animals to impress friends and colleagues that they can have such a pet without a legal permit.” The animals traded most often are cubs of big cats like lion, leopard and tiger, followed by endangered tortoise, terrapin, iguana, ball python, non-venomous snakes, crocodile, parrot, macaw, cockatoo, baboon and, occasionally, chimpanzee. Cubs of the three big cats have been seen around the city, usually in the backseat of an SUV, sometimes poking their heads out of a window. In the article, a resident says, “Our neighbourhood is turning into a mini safari. The only difference is that the residents are the ones roaming the concrete jungle while the wild animals cruise in air conditioned cars.” More....

According to a survey recently released by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), up to 108 wild animal species are found to be trafficked illegally over 33 Vietnamese websites. At a conference held in Ha Noi last Wednesday, Deputy Director of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) Viet Nam's Management Authority Do Quang Tung, said that the survey, which was first conducted in Viet Nam, was thought to help CITES Viet Nam outline effective ways to curb the situation in the country. WCS Country Director of Viet Nam Scott Roberton said that reptiles such as snakes, iguanas and crocodiles have been found to be available for sale on the following websites yeuthucung.com, arowana.com.vn, 5giay.com and rongbay.com. He also mentioned that monkeys, elephants, squirrels and even tigers were being sold on these websites. The survey states that 24 per cent of wild animals are protected by Viet Nam law, while a different 24 per cent are banned from trading by CITES and 17.6 per cent are listed under the global ‘endangered species' list. The survey also discovered that about 84 per cent of wildlife species were trafficked to be sold as pets, 9 per cent for food and 1 per cent for traditional medicine processing. Tung from the Viet Nam division of CITES said that as a global organisation, CITES actually started to prevent wildlife trafficking via the internet since 2004. "However, Viet Nam is yet to conduct a nation-wide assessment of wild animal trafficking that happens over internet," Tung said. "This is despite the fact that wild animal trafficking via the internet is believed to have been happening in Viet Nam for a whole decade." Hoang Xuan Trinh, head of the Forest Management Department's Inspectorate Legal Department said that poor management was blamed for the shortcomings in dealing with wild animal trafficking via the internet in Viet Nam. More....

Source: Phys.orgA court in Ecuador has convicted a German tourist of trying to smuggle four threatened iguanas out of the Galapagos Islands in his luggage, authorities said Sunday

Dirk Bender was convicted "of having altered the local ecosystem of the archipelago," park authorities said.

The Galapagos National Park has requested the maximum four-year jail term for Bender, who should be sentenced in the coming days.

Bender was arrested at the airport on Baltra Island on July 8 after park officials noticed him carrying a suspicious package, which was found to contain four lizards wrapped in canvas.

The hidden reptiles were Galapagos Land Iguanas (conolophus subcristatus), which the International Union for Conservation of Nature ranks as "vulnerable" on its Red List of Threatened Species.

In 1976, wild dogs wiped out a colony of around 500 of the iguanas on the island of Santa Cruz. The national park rescued around 60 survivors and launched a captive breeding program to try to revive the species.

The yellowish lizards can grow to be over a meter (three feet) long, with males weighing up to 13 kilograms (30 pounds).

The iguanas have been seen to raise themselves off the ground to allow finches to eat ticks off their bellies—the same Galapagos finches that inspired Charles Darwin when he visited the islands in the 19th century.

The Galapagos Islands, situated about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) off Ecuador's coast, gained fame when Darwin visited in 1835 to conduct research that led to his revolutionary theories on evolution.

The archipelago has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978 for the rich plant and animal life found both on land and in the surrounding sea.

Alert police officers assigned to a foot patrol around the Cathedral District in the Downtown area of the capital city noticed something strange about a man carrying three burlap sacks. After observing what seemed like movement of the contents in the bags, the Fuerza Publica members approached the man and asked to search the sacks.

The bags were filled with ten iguanas: nine were alive, but one had already perished. The Fuerza Publica members immediately rescued the reptiles and apprehended the 42-year old man. He was charged with trafficking in wild species. The National Service of Animal Safety (SENASA) was dispatched to the scene to pick up the iguanas, assess their health, and look into possible reintegration to their natural habitats. The alleged animal trafficker will now have to appear before the First Judicial District Court of San Jose, where he will answer to the charges as provided by the Wildlife Law of Costa Rica. The officers were looking out for the safety of pedestrians and bus passengers traveling to and from Perez Zeledon at the time of the incident. The bus terminal is located near the Carit neighborhood, and the arrest was made around noon time. Trafficking in iguanas is not isolated to men carrying sacks full of them in downtown San Jose. In 2010, a man traveling to Canada attempted to board a flight at the Juan Santamaria International Airport when a terminal agent noticed that the passenger’s carry-on luggage moving around. Upon inspection, five adult iguanas jumped out. Source: Ministerio de Seguridad Publica

Protected areas in the world's tropical rainforests are absolutely essential, but one cannot simply set up a new refuge and believe the work is done, according to a new paper in Bioscience. Unsustainable hunting and poaching is decimating tropical forest species in the Amazon, the Congo, Southeast Asia, and Oceana, leaving behind "empty forests," places largely devoid of any mammal, bird, or reptile over a few pounds. The loss of such species impacts the whole ecosystems, as plants lose seed dispersers and the food chain is unraveled.

"In many parts of the tropics, hunting is now the biggest threat to tropical biodiversity," writes the paper's author, tropical ecologist Rhett Harrison. "There is a need to acknowledge the unpalatable but undeniable fact that current tropical conservation efforts are failing."

Currently around 18 percent of the world's tropical forests are under some level of protection, a statistic that is seen as a measure of success by conservationists, however hunting and poaching remain rampant. Although most severe in Southeast Asia and Africa, concerns are also rising in the Amazon as well.

Harrison argues that small protected areas and those that do not possess big charismatic species—such as jaguars or elephants—are especially vulnerable to poaching activities due to long neglect from conservationists and policy-makers.

"Smaller reserves (1000–10,000 hectares) tend to be regarded as being of low conservation priority. However, such reserves are a critical component of protected-area networks in tropical regions with relatively little original forest cover remaining; they make up a substantial proportion of the habitat and biogeographic diversity, and often the only examples of species-rich lowland forest," Harrison explains. More....

Source: Thenational.aeBy Carol Huang An Emirati man was arrested at Bangkok airport yesterday and charged with animal smuggling after officials discovered two suitcases filled with live baby leopards, a monkey, gibbon and bear.

N?M, 36, had been waiting to take a first-class Emirates flight from Suvarnabhumi Airport to Dubai just after midnight on Friday when staff opened his bag to find two sedated leopards hidden in flat cages.His suitcase contained a black leopard and a spotted leopard. A second bag was found nearby containing two further leopards, a Malayan Sun bear, a gibbon and marmoset.All the animals were thought to be less than two months old.N?M has only been charged in connection with the two leopards found in his luggage.Representatives from the UAE embassy in Bangkok accompanied him to the police station, where he was charged with violating the wild animal reservation and preservation act, before being released on bail, said Steve Galster, the director of Freeland, a largely US-funded non-profit organisation that works with local authorities to combat wildlife smuggling.Animal smuggling is common in Thailand, but this case was exceptional because of the variety of creatures discovered, said Mr Galster.“We see illegal wildlife shipments going through Thailand all the time. This one is unusual because it is exotic species being smuggled live,” he said.If found guilty, N?M faces up to four years in jail and a fine of 40,000 Thai baht (Dh4,900). However, wildlife traffickers caught in Thailand rarely end up serving time in prison, Mr Galster said.The UAE embassy in Bangkok and the Thai Nature Crime Police, who oversee animal smuggling, could not be reached yesterday.N?M visited Thailand regularly for business, said Bussara Tirakalyanapan, a senior programmes officer at Freeland, citing a police officer who had questioned the Emirati.It is thought Nature Crime Police officials had begun monitoring him from the time he purchased the animals. The bear and leopards would have cost about US$4,000 each (Dh14,700), said Mr Galster.The animals were allegedly delivered to the man after he arrived at the airport. Earlier news reports said there had been two macaque monkeys, rather than a gibbon and a marmoset, but this was not accurate, said Ms Tirakalyanapan.Police are searching for other suspects in the case, including at least one who may have been at the airport with N?M, she added. More....

Green iguana, slider turtles and the world's largest rodent, capybara: it's not a trip to the zoo. It's what's for traditional Easter dinner in Colombia."This is the season we have them all coming in," said nutritionist Carolina Rangel, at a center for confiscated animals in the Colombian capital. She showed AFP about 30 confiscated "outlawed" slider turtles, common here and in Venezuela, as well as a rogue green iguana officials picked up on a bus.Sometimes problems crop up when the animals escape from their "caretakers" especially in the busy Easter season; many Colombians travel for hours on intercity buses to spend the holiday with family and prepare special meals."People bring them in (from far-flung provinces) secretly, even stashed in suitcases so they can eat them with relatives, or sell them at open-air markets," said local environmental official Andres Alvarez, a veterinarian.Colombia has wildly varied geography, with tropical Pacific and Caribbean coasts; cooler Andean mountain climes and a huge range of plant and animal life that thrive, sometimes in relative isolation.These recipes based on local animals -- instead of imported ones -- have close ties to the northern and northwestern parts of the country.They are often served up in the age-old recipes of indigenous peoples descended from migrants who came from eastern Asia into North and South America thousands of years ago.Among the mouthwatering seasonal treats: turtles' eggs omelettes; iguana soup; cayman or turtle stew, which is served up with coconut rice, fried yuca, all washed down with cold beer."Colombia's gastronomic wealth is a reflection of the country's biodiversity," the world's second greatest after Brazil, said anthropolgist Julian Estrada.How the custom evolved of eating these meals at this time -- the Christian celebration of Easter -- is not so clear. But people who lived along local rivers in what is modern-day Colombia ate all of these animals before the Spanish colonial era started in the 15th century, anthropologists say. More....

Source: Insightcrime.orgIn a two-month operation with Interpol, Colombian police rescued 10,000 animals as part of an offensive against eco traffickers in the region.The police operations, which according to El Tiempo newspaper, were concentrated in the departments of Antioquia, Cordoba and Putumayo, netted 10,702 animals and 331,320 derivatives (these include skins and eggs). The species most prized by the traffickers are fish (of which 6,354 were seized), reptiles (1,960 rescued) and birds (1,816). Exotic spiders are also sought after by collectors and can fetch a high price on international markets. Iguana and turtle eggs are very popular for consumption. The value of the wildlife rescued in Colombia was estimated at over $500,000, while the overall value of seizures in simultaneous Interpol operations in some 50 countries was more than $33 million. Eco-trafficking is a little known criminal activity in Latin America and often more lucrative than arms or human smuggling.

An attempt to illegally export marine iguanas, an emblematic species of the Galapagos, has been stopped by the Ecuadorian Environmental Police's dog unit.

The police were conducting routine inspections of cargo and luggage when Willy, one of the police dogs, found a cardboard box containing two iguanas. Despite being kept in poor conditions, fortunately both are still alive. However, the body of a baby sea turtle was also found in the box.After the police inspection, the marine iguanas were delivered to the authorities of the Galapagos National Park.Box was abandonedAccording to the police report, witnesses only provided a general description of the suspected owner of the box. Since the box had been abandoned, the police were unable to locate the suspect, but they are now trying to trace him.This operation came a day after another important finding of six shark fins stored in the ceiling of a house in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island. Sharks are also protected species in Galapagos. The shark fins were found as the result of an inspection conducted by another dog unit. This case is also currently under investigation to determine judicial responsibilities.The dog or K-9 unit of the Ecuadorian Environmental Police is supported by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. It is a pioneer unit in Ecuador, and in the region. In the past few years since its inception, the K-9 unit has proven to be instrumental in the fight against wildlife crimes in Galapagos. The dogs are trained to detect wildlife, including shark fins and sea cucumbers, and to prevent their illegal exportation. The unit operates the three inhabited islands of Galapagos under the command of specialized police officers.